This week an episode of Law & Order on NBC, which regularly adopts real life events and blurs the line between fiction and fact, portrayed a leader in a college Christian ministry as being guilty of making death threats against a professor because the Christian was anti-homosexual. The lead detective calls Christians "Bible thumpers."
"There is a relentless attempt on the part of the media to stereotype Christians as being violent," said Dr. Gary Cass, Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti- Defamation Commission. "Apparently NBC producers need sensitivity training. It seems they can't distinguish between peaceful Christians and violent gang members. It is outrageous to defame the thousands of conscientious Christians who faithfully minister to hurting students on today's college campuses.
"To allow their protagonists to derisively portray Christians as unenlightened, violent and out-of-step is galling," said Cass. "Dick Wolf, the show's executive producer, is not aware that eighty-five percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian. He is the one who is out of step. NBC would never insult other religious faiths in this way. I have never heard devout Jews or Muslims or Hindus and Buddhists insulted because they believe their scriptures or writings."
Over the years, Law & Order has dramatized many high-profile cases dealing with abortion, euthanasia, malfeasance by church officials and other controversial topics. Every time one of these cases is spotlighted, people of faith are portrayed as unenlightened buffoons. The CADC will continue to monitor and expose this bigotry and encourages all people who oppose anti-Christian bigotry to contact NBC and tell them to stop the Christian bashing.
The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is a non- profit organization devoted to protecting the rights of Christians to confidently live their faith. Dr. Gary Cass has degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as Executive Director of the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries founded by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy.
To schedule an interview with Dr. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, please contact Kevin McVicker at Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at (703) 739-5920 or (800) 536-5920.
